1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



395 



the main crop; and in some markets it will 

 sell for the same price. 



RAMBLE 167. 

 Bee-keeping in Tacotna, Washington. 



BY RAMBLER. 



Feeling that I had been amply soaked in 

 Portland I concluded that, if I had to take 

 any more, a Tacoma soak would be equally 

 pleasant, and also a change. My wheel and I 

 boarded the Northern Pacific R. R. for that 

 city, 145 miles distant. While on the journey 

 the winds blew, the rain descended in tor- 

 rents, and, as a grand finale, our car windows 

 were bombarded with hail. Humid Nature 

 here revealed her handiwork in the density of 

 the growth of the forests. The little water- 

 courses were plentifully lined with willows ; 

 little rear-wheel steamers were plying on these 

 small streams, and in some places there was 



G. D. LITTOOY S APIARY. 



barely room fur them to squeeze through the 

 bushes. Ferns (that always indicate moisture) 

 were to be seen everywhere. There were but 

 few farmirg communities along the route, but 

 any number of saw-mills and lumber-camps. 

 Those grand forests of spruce, fir, and cedar 

 are melting away before the stroke of the ax 

 and the whir of the saw. 



At Tacoma we strike tide water again which 

 is navigable for large steamers. The city is 

 pleasantly located, as nearly as I could see 

 through the fog, at the head of one of the 

 many arms or bays that branch out from 

 Puget Sound. Owing to the lay of the land, 

 the streets which run parallel to the bay are 

 in terraces one above the other. 



We find here about 50,000 people, and there 

 seemed to be plenty of water for all intents 

 and purposes. The streets were wet and 

 slippery, the wooden sidewalks were being 



repaired in many places, and, after a few haz- 

 ardous plunges in the darkness in the early 

 evening, I found a very pleasant abiding-place. 

 I knew there were several bee-keepers in 

 Tacoma, for I had previously corresponded, 

 and had some substantial dealings with them. 

 One of these, Mr. G. D. Littooy, had purchas- 

 ed our Oro Fino wax ; and as I had warned 

 him from Portland that I would in due time 

 drop in upon him I knew I should see at least 

 one live bee-keeper, even if it did rain. The 

 morning after arrival I set out to find the gen- 

 tleman. I had an idea he was a free and easy 

 bachelor ; and when I found the house, and 

 rapped on the door a few times, and there was 

 no response, I felt a confirmation of my idea, 

 and pictured to myself the rooms within in 

 more or less confusion — the bed just as he 

 had tumbled out of it in the morning, stove 

 rusty, with a greasy skillet still on it ; a bare 

 table with dirty dishes on it ; the floor more 

 or less littered with dirt ; cobwebs swinging 

 ui molested from the ceiling ; the curtains, if 

 there were any, all awry. My 

 meditations were broken by a 

 sound of life at the rear of the 

 house, and, stepping that way, I 

 found an active-appearing, me- 

 dium-sized young man splitting 

 wood. This was Mr. Littooy ; 

 and as soon as I saw him I had 

 some misgivings about his being 

 a bachelor, for he was more neat- 

 ly dressed, though in his shirt- 

 sleeves, than the average every- 

 day man. He soon led the way 

 into the house, and, sure enough, 

 the neat man had a fitting com- 

 panion and two little cherubs of 

 children, one of them a babe in 

 arms. I must confess that the 

 rooms had a bright and cheerful 

 air, and a sort of halo that is 

 never found in a bachelor's 

 quarters — a sort of interior pol- 

 ish. Of course, the babies made 

 some confusion ; but it was an 

 animated confusion. There was 

 a childish glee, laughter, sun- 

 shine, a "well-spring of plea- 

 sure," and Mr. Littooy has a 

 happy home. 



The bee-fever was imparted to Mr. Littooy 

 by an aged Baptist minister, the Rev. Mr. 

 Price. From him he purchased his first swarm 

 at a good round price, and Mr. Price and 

 round price figured together on several other 

 colonies and hives. 



Just as soon as the bee-fever gets to raging 

 violently with an intelligent victim, the next 

 proceeding is to try to illuminate the mind 

 with bee-literature, and our new bee-man sent 

 for circulars, papers, and books. In the first 

 glamor of his experience he talked bees and 

 bee hives in season and out of season; he sang 

 in the church choir, but the music had the 

 sound of swarming bees ; the sermon went in 

 at one ear, and out at the other; there was in- 

 deed a " bee in his bonnet." 



He soon knew much more about bees than 

 his instructor, and found that he could get 



